The Birth of a Democratic
Nation
• Objective 1.03:
• Examine the causes of the
American Revolution.
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“The Colonial Response: Events Leading to
the American Revolution”
17th century – mid 18th century
•SALUTARY
NEGLECT
–Britain didn’t pay close
attention to the colonies.
–Colonies governed
themselves.
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17th and 18th centuries
• Great Britain followed a policy of
MERCANTILISM
–The theory that a country should
sell more goods to other countries
than it buys
–Favorable balance of trade:
• Profit made on exports exceeds the
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costs of imports
The colonists felt…
• Fine as long as they were making money
and allowed to handle their own affairs.
(Run government, etc.)
1600s
• British government passed a series of
NAVIGATION ACTS
–
The colonies could trade
only with the mother country.
– American goods must be
exported in British ships.
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Early 1760s
• WRITS OF
ASSISTANCE
–British customs officials were given
the authority to search people’s
homes for smuggled goods without
a warrant.
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The French and Indian War
• French empire collided w/ British empire
• British debt = high American Taxes
Treaty of Paris
Proclamation of 1763
• Britain claimed land
east of the
Mississippi River
• Banned all settlement
west of Appalachian
Mts.
• Increased
Independent Spirit
1764: Sugar Act
• British Action:
• Colonial Response:
– Raised taxes on goods
like…
– First time a tax had been
passed to raise revenue
rather than regulate trade
– Colonial merchants
protested the increased
duties
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•
•
•
•
Sugar
Textiles
Wine
Coffee
Indigo
1765: The Stamp Act
• British Action:
– Taxed all documents,
newspapers, and
playing cards by
forcing colonists to
place a special stamp
on the items
– Direct tax
Colonial Reaction
“No taxation without representation”
• Colonists felt they should not be taxed because
they did not get to elect anyone to Parliament
– Boycotted English goods
• Boycott = refusal to buy or use
– Sons of Liberty was formed
-Group that opposed English Rule and
advocated independence
British response…
• Parliament repealed the Stamp Act
– Boycotts so successful not one stamp was
ever sold
1765: Quartering Act
• British Action:
• Colonial Response:
– Colonists had to keep
British troops in their
homes
– Purpose to keep troops in
the colonies and reduce
the cost
– Colonists did not get along
with army and did not
want them there
permanently
– They despised the British
“occupation” and the
soldiers
– Began to form meetings
about the Acts they
disliked
March 3, 1770: The Boston
Massacre
1772: Committees of
Correspondence formed
• Started by Samuel
Adams
• Used to pass
information between
the colonies
• It was a secret
organization
1773: Tea Act
• Parliament repealed Townshend Acts
except for the tax on tea
• Reduced taxes on tea, but forced
colonies to buy tea from a certain
company
• The colonists saw through the trick;
how did they react………?
Dec. 16, 1773: Boston Tea Party
Dec. 16, 1773: Boston Tea Party
• The Boston Tea Party
– A group of colonists called the “Sons of Liberty”
dumped tea into Boston Harbor in protest
– They were thinly disguised as Native Americans
Spring 1774: The Intolerable Acts
• Designed to punish the colonists for Tea
Party
• Closed Boston Harbor
• Restricted trial by jury
• Searches without warrants
• Quartering troops without permission
• No town meetings allowed in Massachusetts
– Boston under military rule
– Trying to isolate Massachusetts, but only
strengthened the colonies unity
What would You do?
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1774: First Continental
Congress
•
•
•
•
12 colonies… sent delegates to Philadelphia
Every colony except Georgia was there
Lasted 7 weeks
Divided on the issue of declaring
independence
• Sent letter to the King asking for rights to be
restored, wanted to remain loyal to England
– Defended colonies’ right to run their own affairs
– Supported the protests in Massachusetts
– Olive Branch Petition
Lexington and Concord
April 19, 1775
• Start of the revolutionary war
• British troops were marching to Concord
• They met local militia in Lexington, asked
them to disperse, they refused
• Someone fired a shot
– “Shot heard round the world”
• Eventually, British were chased back to
Boston; militia fired at them from the
woods
Second Continental Congress
•
•
•
•
•
•
Started May 1775
Divided in beliefs- independence v. loyal
Declared Independence from England
Wrote the Declaration of Independence
Supported the troops in Boston
Chose a general
– George Washington
• Adopted Declaration of Independence on
July 4, 1776
1776
• Thomas Paine’s
COMMON SENSE
argued for
independence
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